DeathSpank Review

A stellar script and adventure game elements elevate what is merely a competent action-RPG.

While titular character DeathSpank attempts to convince an orphan girl to get into his bag (there's context to this, which I will leave for you to discover for yourself in-game), she demands that he find her a cell phone. You then have to choose from a bevy of adventure game dialogue-style options, one of which expresses confusion with, "What does an orphan need a cell phone for?" To which she replies, "To update my blog, of course!"

That is the kind of humor that peppers DeathSpank (the game): a sort of deadpan absurdity where pretty much anything -- no matter how anachronistic or fourth-wall-breaking -- gets said as naturally as we would discuss the time of day. The unflinching delivery of some of the most surprising and out-of-left-field (yet flowing and not at all awkward) dialogue makes DeathSpank simply one of the funniest games to watch and listen to. The script, filled with references and quips covering topics from fantasy RPG tropes to the secret history of felt to the value of unicorn excrement to even sly references to other games, positively shines with classic designer Ron Gilbert's influence. The jokes hit on so many topics that something is bound to make you chuckle -- multiple times even. Even the diverse color palette, the Animal Crossing-esque "on-a-hill" perspective, and the visual gags, along with the voiced dialogue, all make DeathSpank a charming standout compared to other games of its ilk.

Click the image above to check out all DeathSpank screens.

These elements elevate what is merely an "okay game" that sometimes feels a bit too streamlined. When you're not listening to DeathSpank (and his bravado-filled voice that somewhat echoes Ratchet & Clank's Captain Qwark, or '90s animated series The Tick) banter with various characters, you're having him run around and hit baddies for gold and loot in order to finish around 117 quests (according to my questlog, which took me around nine hours to clear), which then give you better loot to kill baddies with. It's a familiar formula, and for the most part, it pulls it off. Heck, you can say that it introduces a few positive quirks. Such as how each face button can be mapped to a different weapon that DeathSpank easily switches between; said weapons are often marked in purple (which means that after filling the Justice Meter by killing foes, the next swing of said weapon becomes a special attack) and/or green (which indicates that it's better than what you're currently wielding); rather than haul your excess loot to town, you can instead use a grinder in your inventory to turn items into gold.

Unfortunately, these tweaks ultimately make the game feel a bit too simple for self-professed "lootwhores." Leveling up gets reduced to picking a Hero Card to add to your deck; these confer bonuses such as additional speed, damage, or money depending on choice (the closest you'll get to character stats), and seem like significant choices early on -- until you realize that you pretty much get all the cards by the end, and are mostly picking what order to unlock them in. DeathSpank himself is fundamentally a melee warrior -- so players who prefer ranged or magic characters will have to contend with token crossbows and magic items as substitutes for class preference. The "items in green are better" system works for the many thematic armor sets (DeathSpank wears amusing gear that makes him look like a pharaoh, or a yeti, or more), but when juggling four different weapons with distinct properties, that simple rubric isn't as effective. I often find myself manually rifling through the inventory and comparing all of my weapons to min-max my offense -- a tooltip (or four) that lets me quickly compare items would have been welcome.

There don't seem to be randomized items, so while there's a decent number of items, and their written descriptions are funny, you realize that your gear boils down to: a straightforward weapon with a funny description (un-enchanted swords, axes, scythes, etc), a lightning wand, a fire axe, an ice hammer, a poison club, a big hammer, a spinning sword, and a giant fist -- there just isn't as much of an element of surprise or randomness to the offensive gear. And despite elements like the combo meter or the Runestones (where using certain weapon pairs yields even spiffier attacks), the combat mostly boils down to either kiting/hit-and-run attacks, or wading into battle while drinking a lot of potions and blocking.

This sense of super-streamlining also extends to the splitscreen co-op; don't mistake it as a way to run through the game with a partner of equal power and importance. While Sparkles The Wizard (the second player) looks like a wholly new mage character for someone to play the story with, he's actually in the distinct spot in-between, "fully defined/independent second character," and "little helper Lumas from Super Mario Galaxy." While Sparkles has his own character model and skills (including healing, a fire attack, a decoy, and a magic wand), he has no inventory (and therefore no gear), no dialogue, and not even a lifebar (he shares the same one as DeathSpank). Co-op does turn out to be pretty fun; once you accept that it's not a true co-op quest playthrough, but rather a second player supporting whoever plays DeathSpank.

Though, just as I start to grow weary of DeathSpank being an "okay" action-RPG, it then momentarily becomes a "great" adventure game. Besides the aforementioned script used in many dialogue trees (that in themselves reward exploration via funny answers to the non-critical choices), the quests themselves occasionally feel like point-and-click adventure puzzles; where you use a combination of dialogue and item usage to solve them (such as assembling a taco or planting C4 in a ghost town). In fact, even that classic, "I've spent the entire game 'using' items and this puzzle requires me to 'open' the item instead" problem crops up (advance tip: while most quests have you using items on objects in the environment, a few times, you solve them not by doing that, but by simply dropping the item); it's annoying when that happens, but I honestly had an "I haven't had that happen in ages!" type of reaction the first time it occured. While none of these are actually as difficult as one you'd find in a graphic adventure, they do make what would normally be a "kill foozle" or "FedEx" quest significantly more interesting.

Which is a small example of something that speaks for DeathSpank overall. Despite my litany of annoyances earlier, I really like playing it simply because it's so refreshing. Purely as an action-RPG, it's a competent game with a few significant flaws in the name of simplicity/accessibility, but as an experience, it shines with humor and wit all over, and makes me hopeful for an improved sequel.